Texas is on track to create a generation of citizens saddled
with high health care costs, increasing poverty rates and an
inability to compete for jobs on a national level, according to a
report released recently.

Compiled by Austin-based Texans Care for Children, the report
shows that even at present funding levels, Texas ranks last in
several areas it describes as crucial for children. With state
funding cuts proposed in every sector including education and
medical services as well as the elimination of several prevention
programs, staff at the non-partisan child advocacy agency say the
Lone Star state is setting itself up for failure.

"By how our children are faring, one would think Texas is one of
the nation's poorest states. We aren't yet, but continuing to
neglect the needs of Texas children will soon make us one," said
Eileen Garcia, Texans Care for Children CEO, in a statement. "This
legislative session provides a clear opportunity for us to start to
right our course and prevent costly lost potential in the youngest
Texans, beginning with our state's approach to services and
education."

The Lone Star State ranks last in providing health care
coverage, mental health services for those with diagnosed
challenges, in preventing childhood homelessness and in preventing
food insecurity. Texas also ranks the highest for fatalities that
result from child abuse or neglect and falls in last when looking
at spending rates for child abuse prevention.

According to the report, which was based on state and national
data and released last week, Texas children are twice as likely as
other American children to be without health insurance, two-thirds
more likely to have a mother who didn't receive adequate prenatal
care and one-third more likely to grow up in poverty. They're also
significantly more likely to drop out of school and 50 percent more
likely to be born to a teen mother than their peers in other
states.

"If Texas fails to reverse current trends, the state is on
course to pay a high price for inaction," said Steve Murdock,
former state demographer now at Rice University. "Higher welfare
and incarceration costs and lower levels of educational attainment
and prosperity are what lie in the forecast today for Texas, if we
fail to close the gaps facing different groups of Texas
children."

Reversing the data amid a budget shortfall of about $27 billion,
though, will admittedly be a challenge.

At Communities in Schools, Executive Director Dawn Parnell said
they aim to prevent students from dropping out of school, knowing
it costs less to work with children now than to provide for adults
without an education. State funding for Communities in Schools,
which relies on the Legislature for about half of its funds, was
eliminated, according to the preliminary budgets.

"It's making a positive impact right here in our community,"
Parnell said, adding 82 percent of the seniors they worked with
graduated and 98 percent of other students remained in school.
"We're contributing to students succeeding, graduating and going on
to college."

They work with students at five Midland campuses and were hoping
to expand because of the increased need but now are waiting to make
plans based on the final budget.

Child Protective Services' prevention programs also are on the
list of things that may go completely unfunded.

The Services At-Risk Youth Program, which provides crisis
intervention counseling and short-term residential care in hopes of
helping families before they have to be split up or children sent
to detention centers, was nearly eliminated. The Stay Together
program at High Sky Children's Ranch is in a similar situation and
looking at 80 percent cuts.

"When you cut prevention, at some point it's going to come back
and cost you," said Felipe Garza, vice president of national
operations at Buckner. "It's kind of one of those things. Nobody
wants to raise taxes, but don't cut my programs."

When it comes to foster care, he said, funding already is slim
and any additional decreases will create a challenge.

Tracy Renton, division director at the area March of Dimes, said
they work to prevent women from having children without prenatal
care by connecting them with services and navigating through the
process of qualifying for state aid. She said they'll lobby to have
funding maintained for the children's health insurance program,
newborn screenings and other services knowing such care is crucial
in a child's early life.

"We're doing everything we can possibly do," she said.

Pat Meadows, executive director of the Community Children's
Clinic, said many of the children they serve don't quite qualify
for state programs such as CHIP but still are in families who can't
afford to have everyone on private insurance. When it comes to
state funding, Meadows said they'll simply wait and keep serving
the community regardless.

"I'll wait and see what happens," she said. "We've been doing
this for almost 28 years, (through) changes to Medicaid and CHIP,
my services are still needed."

According to the report, while Texas is facing a massive
shortfall during the session, overall the state's citizens are
better off financially than other states that rank among the bottom
when it comes to kids' services.

The median wealth of Texans puts the state at 27th among the 50
states. The median household income in 2009 was $50,043, according
to the report. Other states with high child poverty rates, have
median incomes of between $37,000 and $43,000.

"We are the only state to possess the means but not the will to
better serve our people," the report reads.

Christine Sinatra, spokeswoman for Texans Care for Children,
said they're hoping lawmakers will look at options other than the
across-the-board cuts presented thus far. She said they advocate
cutting wasteful spending but also want legislators to consider
using the rainy day fund and targeting cuts at agencies that aren't
what they consider "essential" like education and health
services.

"Every year that we don't fix this problem it becomes (worse),"
she said.

Welcome to the discussion.

3 comments:

Florida is on track to create a creation of people stuck with high medical proper care costs, increasing hardship rates and an lack of dissertation writing service ability to contend for tasks on a nationwide level, according to a review launched lately.

Texas gives huge tax breaks to big business to bring business to the state. That's a good idea up to a point, but it's time for them to pay their fair share.

Texas can't keep shorting our education system and medical care or people will not want to move their business here. Nobody wants to live where the education is rated sub-standard, and Texas is already sub-standard in that department without making it worse.

The legislature is going to have to tax big business if the state is to survive. I know we will hear a lot of garbage about it hurting small business. I'm not advocating that. Texas cannot exist if it continues to turn out graduates who can't read or do simple math. We apparently have a surplus of that already in our legislature.

Amazingly, this source of budget cutting reminds me of the heated talk by the GOP about "death panel" health care plans by Obama. Guess we've come full circle with all the hate speak and got bit in the .... LOL